Chapter 6: Nikki

I'm trapped, trapped in the realm locked between sleep and wakefulness. I can feel the nightmare surrounding me as I attempt to push myself awake but it's no use. I'm stuck in the nightmare for now.

Looking around, I spot the same images as always as my nightmare plays out like a picture show in front of me.

"Nicole?" I can hear my mother call out my name, but this time is different. This time sounds quieter, her voice is pained, as if something were on top of her, holding her down. I run, calling out her name, but get no response back.

"Mom, are you there? Mom, where are you?" I shout but instead of hearing her, a small light opens not fifty feet from me. I see shadows dancing around as a fire engulfs a car flipped over on its side. I rush over to the scene of the accident, the scene that has plagued my mind for years after finding out exactly how my parents were killed.

"Nicole!" Someone shouts my name, but I pay them no attention, simply continue to run over to the car.

"Nicole wake up!"

Brody.

It's my brother calling out my name. I want to wake up, I want to end the nightmare that I know all too well, but I can't. I can never turn off the images my mind has conjured up about my parent's death. I can never get their screams of help off my mind.

"Nicole!"

Light flickers into my eyes and I snap out of bed and fall to the ground, my body landing hard on the thin carpet. I look up and blow out a breath of relief as I see I am not only awake and back at home at the Serendin, but Brody standing over me as well.

"Hey, are you alright?" He extends his hand to help me up and when I stand, I rub my temples. My heart is beating rapidly and I'm out of breath, but I answer my little brother, not wanting him to see me this way.

We've always known each other's nightmares. We have always been in sync and always helped each other through them, but this one felt different. This was the first nightmare where I never reached them. Something inside of me feels unsettled because of that.

"Nikki?"

"I'm fine Brody." Rubbing my hands down on my sleep shorts.

"Alright, well Mick has asked all of us to come in for a meeting. Starts in thirty."

"Meeting?" I ask as my eyes narrow. It's never a good thing when Mick calls a meeting. The last one was when Mick wanted us to practically rob a museum. It was to be at night well after they closed, but he wasn't counting on a cleaning crew being there pepping for a school's field trip the following day. Matt, one of the tech sides of the Bandits was caught, giving us no choice but to leave him there.

It wasn't a day any of us liked to speak of, and it certainly wasn't a day any of us wanted to repeat.

"Yes, a meeting. I was sent to get you. Are you sure you're alright?" I nod my head at my brother's worried face. Brody has always hated my nightmares even though he has them as well.

"I'm good, really. I'm going to take a quick shower. I'll meet you there?" I look up at him and notice how different he looks. His eyes are red, rimmed with sleep deprivation. His skin is pale, and his weight looks to be falling off at every move he makes.

"Yeah, alright, see you there." I turn and walk to the bathroom, relieved when the door shuts behind me.

Brody has always used marijuana, something that gets tiresome, but not annoying enough to worry about. Now though, he looks to be using something else. Knowing that Mick wants to speak with everyone is a little nerve racking, but it's even more worrisome if he wants Brody apart of the action this time.

My brother comes before anything else and if he becomes the scapegoat for this operation, I won't hesitate to leave the bandits.